The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-12-19
GODS GREATEST GIFT.
EVERLASTING LIFE MANS CHoIC-
EST BLESSING.

EST BLESSING.
Rev Dr. Pratt's Discourse at the
Independent Presbyterian Church
The Horrors of Hell Contrasted With
the Attractions of How to
Win Eternal Bliss.
Rev. DR.. Pratt, of Louisville, KY,
preached at the Independent Presbyterian
church yesterday, and his congregation was
much pleased with his sermons His text
last night was from the gospel of st. John
ill., 14-15:
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the will
derness even so must the Son of Man be lifted
up:
That whatsoever believeth in Him might not
perish but have everlasting life.
The doctor began by speaking of the
thoughtless ease with which words of great
significance are used, and how infrequently
they bring to the mind of him who uses
them, the vastneSs which they signify. The
word ocean for example, is spoken often, but
seldom when it is used is the great expanse
of the mighty ocean thought of; or its cur
rents and tides, its storms its hurricanes,
its simoons, its typhoons, its icebergs and
coral islands, and its great meadows of sea
weed; or its fauna the star fish, with its
myriad variations, or the jelly fish floating
about in the waters, or its cutie fish, with
its colors like the rainbow, or the great
whales and monsters that inhabit the deep.
SPIRITUAL STUPIDITY.
This he mentioned, he said, to show how
people engrossed with the things of this
world would speak with carelessness of the
great.things of the world beyond, of that
everlasting life which is Gods greatest gift
TO man. No doubt his hearers were already
disappointed because he was going to preach
again that old, old story of the promise of
everlasting life, but he would preach it to
them TO show them what blessed gift was
theirs. He could understand how they were
more interested i'll the things of the present
life, which was real, than in that vague,
shadowy life which is promised beyond. but
that is only an evidence of their spiritual
stupidity. If they could only be made to
realize how horrible 1t would be cropping
about in the vast chambers of hell, seeing
not friendly face, spending the time in
miserable complaining, cursing God and in
the end only becoming more and more ca
pable Of misery and suffering, they would
reach out to grasp that greatest of gifts ere
it was too late.
MATHEMATICAL PROPOSITION.
Detailing, then, the blessings of everlast-
ing life, Dr. Pratt said that the greatest de-
sire of man was for truth exact truth.
matics called an exact science, is so fascin-
ating to those who devote themselves to it.
They know that it is true, and that its
truths are everlasting; that worlds may
clash and chaos rule, but amid all the ruin it
remained an eternal truth that the square
described on the hypothenuse of a right
angle triangle is equal to the sum of the
squares of the other two sides. The prom
Use of the Father is that in the world to
come the faithful shall know the truth.
Man, too, is progressive animal, and his
ability for acquiring knowledge is limited
in this world, while there it will be unlim
tied. Nor can man exist without
activity, but here activity is work,
and work is not an unmixed bless
ing, but in the world to come it will
be the activity of Joy and gladness. To
illustrate: Notice little child learning to
walk, trying to keep from falling on the
hard floor, or to put it scientifically to keep
the centre of equilibrium coincident with
the centre of motion. That child is doing
hard work, but notice it ten years later It
Is boy ON the playground. He walks, he
runs, he leaps. 1t is a pleasure then So
activity in this world Gods nursery
is work, hut in the world to
come it will be abundant pleasure
Man is created with moral sense, capabl,
of good and evil, and as God is holy and
happy it must follow that man is happiest
when he approaches nearest to holiness, as
David said he should be happy when he
should awake in the likeness of his Maker
FAITH THE ONLY REQUIREMENT
And now comes the question how to
obtain this happiness. When the children
of Israel were camped in the valley and
went out to gather up the mamma they began
to murmur They were tired of this white
bread and they thirsted for water. They
complained to Moses, and asked him why he
had brought them out of Egypt to die in the
wilderness. Then the air was filled with
flying serpents that came out of the ,revices
in the earth and in the mountain-the SER
pent whose sting caused agony
and death. 1t crept to the pallet
Of the infant; it cooled about
the leg of the strong man and pierced the
breast OF the defenseless woman. In every
wound it left its deadly sting. They could
not kill the serpents for they were too many,
but Moses interceded for his people and a
voice was heard filling the air and resound-
ing throughout the whole region. God told
Moses to lift up a serpent, carved out of
brass, and everyone that looked thereon
should be healed. So the deadly sting of the
serpent lost its horror, and those who
had been wounded had but to look upon the
brazen serpent to be healed. They did not
begin to get better, but were we'll at once
But how could a simple look heal them.
oh, they did not stop to inqnire how that
could be, but they obeyed the command,
and they knew that it healed them So all
that is necessary to win everlasting life is to
believe in the Lord Jesus Christ 1t does
not matter how that simple faith will save
sinner; it is enough that it does.
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